Patient care workshop organized by heart failure association of the European Society of Cardiology

Abstract

Introduction: The patient care workshop was organized by the heart failure (HF) association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in Vilnius, Lithuania on October 26, 2018. Cardiologists, general practitioners, and nurses from nine countries were invited to the workshop. Background: HF is a complex clinical syndrome that requires a complex treatment regimen and is associated with frequent hospitalizations, poor quality of life, high morbidity and mortality. The practice of evidence-based guidelines of HF will help for continued professional development among cardiologists, practitioners, and nurses who manage HF. Program: The workshop was divided into five sessions. The sessions were focused on the following topics: (1) ESC newer guideline for diagnosis, including the BNP and echocardiography, On-going management with drug optimization and advanced therapies-ICD/CRTD/LVADs, (2) the specialist HF programs and its curriculum, (3) the importance of setting up centers with specialized experts in treating HF patients and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to managing HF, (4) components of a HF program, (5) HF patient's health education, (6) self-care management, (7) medication adherence, (8) discharge counseling, (9) discharge planning of patient with comorbidities, (10) different approaches of home-based management at “community level” and “home visits,” (11) The role of the cardiologist, General practitioner, and Nurses within the HF team, (12) The specialized HF nurse curriculum, and (13) practical considerations for setting up an HF specialized service- money, personnel, room, specialized curriculum for training the personnel, supporting agencies, and network around the globe. Conclusion: Educational programs for cardiologists, general practitioners, and nurses may benefit HF patients and may lead to increased adherence to the clinical guidelines related to selection and optimization of drugs, proper use of advanced device therapies, setting of HF clinics, and thereby increase the patient's health-care utilization. In India, more specialized centers for treating heart failure need to be created and the nurse led heart failure clinics must be developed in larger scale for the better care of heart failure patients.

Keywords

• Heart failure clinic
• heart failure management
• heart failure nurse
• specialized training for heart failure management